Reposted from Yahoo News Digest Tumblr—
“When FBI agents and police officers fanned out across the country last month in a weeklong effort to rescue child sex trafficking victims, they pulled minors as young as 11 from hotel rooms, truck stops and homes. Among the 168 juveniles recovered was a population that child welfare advocates say especially concerns them: children who were never reported missing in the first place. Advocates say the roundup reinforces the need for a standardized, nationwide approach to report children as missing, especially those absent from state foster care systems who are seen as most vulnerable to abuse.

This has been a movement that I would say over the last year has really galvanized.

John Ryan, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Though states may have policies encouraging child welfare agencies to report missing children to law enforcement, most don’t have laws requiring that notification, according to the missing children center. That means children can disappear without police knowing they’re missing or being directed to look for them. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says two-thirds of the children reported missing last year who likely were sex trafficking victims were in the care of child welfare systems when they ran away.”